A Matter of Perspective
by Suffering Angel
Summary: If you asked her, it was a date. If you asked him, he was in it for the edible reward. Nami/Luffy


Nami, Luffy and all things One Piece-y belong to Oda-sensei.

This take place during a random R&R period and was thought up prior to 508, but is released because of 508. LuNa vibes well over 9000, unf unf.  
>COMPLETELY pointless sans a general DAAAAW feeling.<p>

_**A Matter of Perspective**_

If you asked her, it was a date. If you asked him, he was in it for the edible reward. No one really asked either, though, and so these precious truths were lost to the endless flow of time.  
>It didn't make them any less real, though.<p>

Slender fingers pushed back bright orange strands behind her ear, clearing the girl's line of sight. She watched her companion with interest, and had to admire his note-worthy efforts; all across the avenue were decorated, colorful shops and his eyes wondered away more than once. He'd always look back forward, though, a determined pout on his face.  
>Aah, really... whatever <em>did<em> she find in him?

"Is it boring?" She asked with her hands behind her back as she leaned forward, offering him a mild puppy look and a generous view of her cleavage.  
>He turned to look straight at her face.<p>

"Yes!" The boy her age declared defiantly and nodded once as though to show the truth in his words.  
>She let out a mock sigh and held her hands up in defeat.<p>

"Aah, ah, such hurtful honestly, captain."

The young man wearing the straw hat grinned and snickered before turning to look back at the road. She kept looking at him for a good while longer before looking ahead as well.  
>Really, if she let Luffy lead, they were likely to get lost if not in trouble.<p>

"This way."

"Aah."

She had no idea what came over her that morning when she went out to town to replace a defunct item. The box was neither heavy nor big, but was uncomfortable to carry and thus, made the unsatisfied owner look for help.  
>Sanji volunteered immediately with a bold '<em>Mellorine~!<em>' cry, and surely Zoro could be debt-guilted into it, but the Straw-Hats' navigator found herself staring idly at the back of their captain's, who was sitting on his very special seat.

"Luffy, tag along with me for a while!"

And before he could complain-

"I'll buy you lunch!"

And that settled that.

"Coming~!"

She figured that was why Luffy was so dedicated to the task, walking obediently and silently next to her. Leave it to him to honor bargains paid for with food...  
>If you asked her, though, this could've counted as a date - the closest anyone has ever gotten to with Luffy, anyway, and was likely to get, too.<p>

"So what _is_ in there?" Luffy asked and brought Nami out of her bubble of thought, and she caught him in time to stop him from pulling up the cardboard cover.

"_Fragiles._"

He froze.

"_Valuable_ - fragile."

Maybe she over-did it, because the next moment Luffy wrapped his rubbery arms around the box, a look of mild panic on his face.

"...don't squeeze it." The girl warned, but an amused undertone was evident in her voice.  
>He nodded twice and as the matter came to a close, she turned to walk on only to place her foot on the wrong place, break her impressive heel - and lose her footing.<p>

"Nami-!"

A yelp was let out as she realized the ground was suddenly rising to meet her. She flailed wildly for anything to hold onto, and reached for the closest thing she could. When finally she was stable again and began to calm down, she looked around and found a small crowd was watching only to lose interest in light of the peaceful conclusion.  
>Everything went by as it did a moment before, sans the very warm and very real presence of whatever it was she caught onto.<p>

"Are you alright, Nami?" Luffy asked with obvious concern and she looked up at him to find him staring worriedly down at her.  
>She had to look away and growled at her own cheeks as they heated up, and she knew better than to think it was all because the incident was embarrassing.<p>

"...my heel broke. The shoe's, that is." She concluded with a frown and kicked the small plastic piece away across the pavement.  
>This let her captain sigh in obvious relief.<p>

"Stupid girl-shoes." He growled to himself before turning to look angrily at her. "Don't scare me like that! You screamed so loudly!"

"Wha- I did no-" She wanted to argue, but found him smiling that bright, enchanting grin of his.

"Well, at least you're ok! Haha, really gave me a start there!"

"...un." Was the best she could come up with, and she realized then she was still clinging off his arm.  
>Who'd have thought someone made of rubber could offer so much stability...<p>

"Can you walk like this, though?" Luffy asked then and glanced at the discarded heel.  
>Nami picked it up and pocketed if before returning to hold onto Luffy.<p>

"If we're like this, then yes."  
>The statement came with a lot less bravado than she intended, but she made up for it while Luffy was stuttering about how embarrassing it was.<p>

"I'll buy you dessert, too. And that Pandaman figure you were ogling."

The long line of attempted arguments was cut short by a determined nod.  
>"Ok!" Luffy declared and turned to look at Nami again; she found herself staring back into his honest, warm eyes.<br>"Hold on tight, alright? Would hate it if you stumbled again."

Ah, damn her cheeks; she hated blushing. "I know that!"

"Ok, then let's get this over with and go eat!"

Well, it was for the food, but Nami didn't care as she rested her head against Luffy's shoulder and let him support her.

A date; this was definitely a date. 


End file.
